Dawn of Rebellion (Dawn of Rebellion Series Book 1) Read online

  The newcomer is looking down on it, grinning from ear to ear. I don’t say anything because my mind is still reeling from almost being killed. Drew has reached us out of breath and is glaring at this man with distrust. “Who are you?” Drew asks. After yesterday’s attack, we can’t trust anyone. Who knows what kind of gits live here?

  “Well I could ask the same thing of you folks.” There is a strange quality to his voice; some kind of weird accent, but not one that I’ve heard before. “Names Anderson, Samuel Anderson. Call me Sam. This here is Beth.” He taps the bear with his foot to indicate who he’s talking about. “Been tracking her for days, till y’all led her right out here in the open. Thanks for that. Now, let’s get under some cover and we can take a look at that leg of yours miss.” He walks towards me and grabs an arm. “Don’t just stand there, help a lady out.” In spite of the circumstances, I can’t help but smile at the way this man is talking to Drew.

  With help from the two of them, I am able to hobble my way into the patch of trees to the side of the road. “Where are you taking us?” Drew asks.

  “Well sir, this little lady needs to see ma. She’ll get that leg right taken care of. It’s not much farther.” If it wasn’t for my ankle, we would be as far away from these people as possible.

  With me leaning on both men for support, we make it a few kilometers before reaching what looks like a house. The house is small and seems to be cobbled together with whatever materials these people could find. But it is shelter, something we have been without since we touched down in the colonies.

  As soon as we are close, a woman appears out front, hands on her hips, looking narked.

  “Samuel Anderson! Where have you been? We have been worried sick.” We? I wonder how many people there are out here. I am getting nervous.

  “Ma, I got her! I found Beth. Get Lee and Jesse to go get her. She’s just a few miles away, out on the road.”

  “What’s a mile?” I whisper to Drew. He just shrugs.

  The woman called Ma finally notices us next to Sam. “Oh no no no. Who are these people? We don’t take in escapees. You are going to get us all killed one day Sam.”

  Sam turns to us and asks, “Are you slaves?”

  Drew responds with a quick “No.”

  “See Ma, it’ll be OK. This lady needs your help. Beth was trying to gut her good when I found ‘em.”

  Ma sighs and gestures us in. She doesn’t say anything, just points to a table. Drew lifts me onto it and hikes up my right pant leg so that Ma can get a better look at my ankle. She walks over and begins putting pressure on various spots.

  “Tell me where it hurts.” She says quietly.

  “Right there.” I wince as she finds the spot. She then begins turning my foot left and right and then rotates it in a circle. The pain is intense but not unbearable.

  “Well, it’s not broken. It’s probably just a sprain. There’s nothing we can do about the pain, you just need to give it a rest for a few days.” She walks away without saying anything more.

  Drew walks up and grabs my hand, which I think is a little weird but the pain is too much to care about that. Sam comes to the other side of the table and says,

  “I guess you’re staying here for a few days. Might help if I got your names.”

  Drew looks at me before he speaks and I nod. “I’m Drew, and this is Dawn.”

  Sam smiles, “Well good, now that we got that cleared up, let’s eat.”

  Chapter 16

  Gabby

  I don’t know how much longer I can take this. It’s not the work. No, I can handle that. It’s not even these grotty living conditions. I’m pretty used to living in dodgy places. What gets to me are these people. You would think that everyone would welcome the newcomer and even help me out. I mean, we are all in the same boat here. It’s not like I’m going anywhere, so they will have to get used to me eventually.

  I wake up with food next to my bed again. I find this kind of strange. I don’t know who’s bringing this to me but I know there’s no room service here. I sit up and eat what’s been left for me; same thing as yesterday.

  As I’m eating I see a flash of red hair outside my door and then Claire is standing right in front of me. She doesn’t say anything, she just watches.

  “Morning Claire,” I say between mouthfuls.

  “It’s time to go. I didn’t want to leave you.” As she says this, I think back to last night. According to Claire’s brother, I’m not supposed to be around her. What can I do, though, if she’s the one showing up in my room? Plus, I’m grateful for the company. I finish eating quickly and head out to meet the others.

  Today is just like yesterday. We walk for a while, until we reach the trees. Then we are told to get to work picking the oranges. Today, we have an extra bin to fill. The only reason we were given is that a storm is coming. I’m from England; I can handle a little rain.

  Towards the end of the day everyone has slowed down. It has been extremely hot all day and people are exhausted. Claire and I are working together to finish up our last tree. I stand down near the bottom, gathering the oranges that have fallen on the ground. Claire has decided to climb up into the tree and fetch the last few at the top.

  All of a sudden I hear screaming coming from farther up the tree. I run around to a spot where I can see Claire. Everyone else has stopped what they were doing and come to see what the kerfuffle is all about.

  “Claire! You OK?” I yell up the tree.

  “My foot is stuck. It hurts Gabby.” Claire sounds scared. As I try to get a better look at where her foot is I notice something hanging from the tree to her right.

  “What’s going on? Is she OK?” Amanda has run over, looking worried.

  “She’s fine now, just scared. But we need to get her out of there without disturbing that wasp’s nest.” Amanda’s eyes widen as she notices what I’m seeing. “I’m going up.”

  “There’s got to be some other way.” As she takes in the determination on my face she changes that to, “Be careful.”

  “Claire, I’m coming to get you.” I can’t even be sure she has heard me through her sobs. I’ve always been a pretty good climber so it doesn’t take me long to reach her. Her eyes are wide and shining with tears. As she sees me she points to the wasps nest. I was hoping she hadn’t seen that. I grab her foot and rock it back and forth trying to pry it out of the tight spot it is stuck in. I am able to get it loose, but not without shaking the tree a little too much.

  “Claire, come on. We need to get down from here now!” Claire goes ahead of me and I follow. I always found climbing down from a tree to be a little more difficult than climbing up one. Claire touches the ground first and I am close behind. As I am almost down, I hear a noise coming from behind me.

  Oh no; the wasps. I slap my arm as I feel the first one land there. It is able to sting me before getting smashed by my hand. Another one gets my leg. I have never felt so much pain as my knee buckles and I tumble out of the tree and pass out.

  Chapter 17

  Gabby

  Once again, I wake to someone putting water on my forehead. Once again, it is Amanda. I feel silly, having people take care of me. “Claire, honey, she’s waking up.” Amanda’s voice is directed at the door as Claire pokes her head in. She runs to the bed and hugs me.

  “You saved me! I’m so glad you’re OK!” Claire is usually so quiet and shy that this display catches me off guard.

  “Shite, how long have I been out?”

  It’s Amanda who answers, “Only about an hour or so. We’re about to go to dinner. If you’re feeling up to it that is?”

  I laugh at that, “I was beginning to think this was a hotel. What with the room service and all.”

  Amanda just smiles as she helps me to my feet. We get outside and Amanda leads the way. Claire is clinging to my hand as we join the group of people heading in the same direction. I don’t know what I expected after the events of today but it sure wasn’t this. Nothing has changed. Amand
a must have thought it would be different too or she wouldn’t have brought me here. After I saved Claire, I thought people would at least be more accepting. That is definitely not the case. Once again, no one talks to me and those who actually look at me do so with as much distrust as ever.

  We reach the place where everyone eats and I realize, it is the place where I intruded on that fire a few nights ago. There are a few makeshift platters covered in food. No silverware, only crude looking plates and cups. I grab a plate and some food and find a place on the ground to sit. The meat is some kind of salted fish. It doesn’t have much flavor but I am so famished that I don’t care. Along with it is that stale bread that we’ve had with every meal since I got here.

  There is little talk as we eat and I can tell that I am the reason. People stare and not because they like my filthy outfit. I can’t take this anymore. I stand up and wave Claire down as she tries to stand as well, thinking I am leaving. I will leave, but not before I say my peace.

  “Hey!” I yell to get everyone’s attention. “What is the matter with you people? Look at me!” I say that last bit so that people turn to me. “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve the leper status, but I’ve had enough. I know it has something to do with that damn hot box but I don’t even know why I was in there. I only nicked a bracelet. I didn’t kill anybody. But you people don’t care, do you? Hello? We are all in the same situation here! In case you haven’t noticed, we're all buggered. I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you. I risked my neck today to help Claire, and you know why? Because she and Amanda are the only people here with an ounce of compassion. You all should be ashamed of yourselves. My name is Gabby by the way, if anyone cares.” With that I walk away. I don’t let Claire come because, for the first time since I got here, I actually want to be alone.

  I walk around the camp for a while before heading back to my room. Everyone must be finishing dinner soon so I want to get inside before they do. I lay on my bed and stare at the ceiling, daydreaming about London, my sister, and even my father. What I wouldn’t give to be with Dawn right now. I left her all alone. We were all each other had left. The tears start to flow and I try to stop them but I can’t. I am not a crier but then again, I’ve never been this desperate before.

  When I hear a drumming on the roof of my hut that drowns out my tears, I get to my feet and walk to the door to look out. It has started to rain. It is as if the skies have just opened up. I jump when I hear the first clap of thunder even though I should have expected it because of the lightning that came before. I love thunder storms. They’re beautiful. When the skies are pitch black until that one flash lights up the whole world only for a second. Storms always scare Dawn. She usually hides in the corner of the room and I hold her hand.

  Without even realizing it, I have walked outside into the pouring rain. Soon everything around here will be mud. I wonder how our huts will hold up. At the moment, I don’t really care. I look up to the sky and spin around. Nothing has ever felt as good as this water running through my hair and down my face. Back home, the rain is cold, sometimes it freezes. Here, it is wonderful. I decide that I want this feeling to last as long as it can. I lay down. The mud sticks to my clothes, but it doesn’t matter. I close my eyes and am at peace for the first time since I arrived. I don’t know how long I’ve been laying there when I hear my name.

  “Gabby?” I open my eyes to find Claire’s brother Jeremy looking down at me.

  “What?” I have to yell to be heard over the rain,

  “What are you doing? Don’t you know this is a hurricane? You need to get inside.”

  “I want to stay right here!” As soon as I say that, Jeremy bends down and actually picks me up. What an arse! “Hey! Put me down!” I try to wiggle out of his arms but he doesn’t budge. “What are you, daft? Let go of me.”

  He finally puts me down once we are inside of his hut. I turn on him, seething. “What do you think you’re doing? You can’t just do that you stupid git.”

  “I was saving your life.”

  “Yeah right, how?” How am I going to die from a little rain?

  “This is a hurricane, not some little English storm. If, by some miracle, you didn’t get crushed by one of the many things flying around out there, then you’d probably get pneumonia from being in the rain too long; we have no medicine for your stupidity.” The way he speaks to me makes me feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. “Now, take off your clothes.”

  I stare at him before saying, “You want me to do what now?”

  “Relax. This is not for my own enjoyment. You’re sopping wet. Wrap yourself in this blanket so you don’t get sick. I’ll start a fire.”

  Jeremy has a fire pit dug right in the middle of his room. I snatch the blanket from his grasp, “fine”. After making sure Jeremy has his back turned, I undress and wrap myself in the blanket, making sure it won’t fall off. I turn around and take a seat next to the fire that is struggling to start. Jeremy sits on the other side.

  I watch the light from the flames dance off Jeremy’s face as we sit in silence. He has a strong jaw and prominent cheek bones. He is hot for sure, but in a different, rougher sort of way; not pretty and refined like Drew. I decide to breach the uncomfortable silence. “So,” I start, “I’ve never been in a hurricane.” He looks up at me with amusement in his eyes. What a stupid thing to say. My stomach twists into all sorts of knots.

  “Well, now you won’t be able to say that will you?” he smirks. I pull the blanket tighter around my shoulders. I have resigned myself to the silence when Jeremy speaks again.

  “That was some speech.” I can’t tell if Jeremy is making fun of me or not.

  “I meant it,” I snap, “Every word.”

  “I know you did. But you don’t understand.”

  “Understand what?” I am not in the mood to be scolded like a child.

  “The types of people that come in sometimes…well, it breeds a lot of distrust, especially when they come in the way you did. Only the true criminals, killers and such, get put in that box.” He gets quiet for a minute, “they’re usually the ones who turn on us.”

  “Turn?” I ask.

  “First they become snitches; telling the bosses everything that goes on here. Then, eventually they become the bosses. We call them collaborators. They are always watching .”

  “Oh. I didn’t know.” I still don’t feel guilty about my speech. I am not like those criminals. I don’t even know why I was in the hot box.

  “Yeah.” After that, we are silent for what seems like an eternity. I am very aware of the fact that I am only wearing this blanket. I am not a shy person but something about this boy unsettles me.

  “So,” he says, “You stole a bracelet?”

  “Yeah, for my sister’s birthday.” Something occurs to me as I look at Jeremy. If most of these people aren’t hardened criminals then what are they? Some are probably thieves like me, but surely not little Claire. I work up the nerve and ask, “What about you? Why are you here?”

  “I was born here. So was Claire. Our mother was sent here for having an affair with some high ranking official. She was pregnant with me.” I am stunned. I don’t know what to say. I am saved by Claire as she walks in and sits by the fire.

  “Hey guys!” She is soaking wet from the rain but doesn’t seem to notice.

  “Claire, where have you been?” Jeremy asks.

  “Around. I wasn’t feeling good though so I came home.” Jeremy sighs and makes Claire sit close to the fire. I stand to retrieve the other blanket from the bed but Jeremy has the same idea. We knock heads.

  “Ouch. Sorry. You okay?” he asks.

  “Yeah.” He must not believe me because he places two fingers on my forehead and leans forward to take a look. His breath is hot on my face. A chill runs up my spine and my grip on the blanket loosens briefly. It slips from my shoulder but I catch it from falling any further. Jeremy slowly pushes the blanket back up, his hand brushing my skin lightly. In the dim lig
ht of the fire I can barely see his face as he looks down at me. As if making a decision, he takes a step backwards, grabs the blanket from the bed, and sits next to Claire.

  “You may have a small bruise tomorrow,” he says. I don’t respond. I let out the breath I had been holding and return to my spot on the floor. Claire starts telling us some story Amanda told her and I do my best to listen because it takes my mind off of the butterflies roaming around in my stomach.

  The three of us end up talking for hours as the storm builds outside. I try to leave on a number of occasions so that I don’t overstay my welcome but they don’t let me. I am secretly glad for this, because I have finally gotten warm and comfortable. I doze off to the sounds of the fire crackling and the steady sounds of the rain.

  Chapter 18

  Dawn

  The food is surprisingly delicious. That’s probably from being on the road and eating nothing but packaged crap, although, it’s not like my diet was spectacular back in London either. They gave us some kind of meat that they called venison, bread, and even fresh berries. I'm even drinking a cuppa. I still don’t know who these people are or why they’ve taken us in but, at the moment, I don’t care. I am content to just sit here and enjoy the fact that my stomach is full for the first time in years.

  So far, we’ve only met two people that live here but I know there are more. We heard Sam mention a few others. The room we are in is very small, though, so if there are more people living here there has to be someplace else. I’m guessing there is a lot more that they aren’t showing us. I don’t blame them. They are living in this hostile land; they can’t afford to trust us.

  Ma clears our plates and heads out the door. Before getting too far she yells back to Sam, “They’re back!” Sam jumps up and rushes out.

  “Should we follow him?” Drew looks at me and I shrug.

  “Well, I can’t because of my ankle, but you go and see what’s up.” He follows Sam out the door. I try to hear what’s going on out there but they’re too far from the door for me to catch anything. I had expected Drew to come back right away but instead Sam rushes in.